網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

of sand and loam. Wheat is now more profitable than tobacco. Some tracts yield thirty bushels per acre; others not more than ten. Barley is not cultivated. The expenses of the farm are defrayed by the profits of the sale of hogs, pork, beef, lambs, and wheat. The price of cows is from twelve to forty dollars; of horses, from forty to eighty; that of mules, from seventy to a hundred. The price of sheep is about two dollars; and hogs from five to eight per hundred weight. Cider is twelve cents per gallon; whiskey, fifty. Wheat, a dollar and twelve cents per bushel. The common price of a day labourer, including nourishment, is half a dollar per day; that of a mechanic is double this sum. The harvest begins the latter end of June, or first of July. The seed time is in October.

This district abounds with oaks of different species-white, black, red, willow, etc. The wood of the first, which grows in low places, is much esteemed. The black is seen in elevated situations, and the willow species on the borders of streams. Birch, magnolia, sweet-gum', and tulip-tree, grow here. Of 'Liquidambar styraciflua.

[blocks in formation]

the last there is a tree near Mr. Calvert's house, of remarkable beauty. The wild strawberry', of a delicious flavour, is so abundant near the Patuxent river, that no one takes the trouble of cultivating this fruit in gardens.

The grey and the red fox frequent this region, and sometimes carry off pigs, lambs, and poultry. Racoons, opossums3, and wild rabbits, are often seen in the woods.. The snakes had made their appearance when we visited this place on the 27th of April,

1812.

Near the village of Bladensburg, in the midst of a wood belonging to Mr. Calvert, there is a chalybeate, similar to that near this village, which we shall hereafter notice.

Before the American revolution, Bladensburg carried on a considerable commerce in tobacco. Like all the American villages which depended on this article for their support, it has gone to decay. This commerce was carried on chiefly by Scotch agents, who,

[ocr errors][merged small]

from attachınent to their king, fled to their native home; and a new order of things having destroyed commercial monopoly, few of them returned to their former residence.

Bladensburg now presents a miserable aspect. The curing and packing of herrings is the only branch of industry which remains, although the river at full tide has seven or eight feet of water, on which boats ply backwards and forwards to Washington.

The mineral spring is pleasantly situated on the side of the stream, near a fine clump of trees at the entrance of the village. It would not require much expense to make this an agreeable watering place. A tannery has been lately erected on the opposite side of the stream, the effluvia of which are disagreeable when the wind is from that quarter. By means of a thermometer, which Mr. Diggs politely procured, we found the temperature of the water to be 55. Some years ago, a public bath was constructed near the spring, but the temperature was found to be disagreeably cold, and it was entirely abandoned. The waters are light and agreeable, and are drank, during summer, by vale

tudinarians from Washington, and other neighbouring places. They are employed for culinary purposes by the people of the village.

In the year 1804, the surface around the springs was completely inundated, and after the flood had subsided to the level of the mineral waters, their current was not greater than usual, which proves that it is not sensibly affected by the rains. During the autumnal season, this place is subject to bilious and intermitting fevers.

GREENWOOD, THE SEAT OF MRS. CRAWFORD.

Greenwood is finely situated on the south west branch of the Potomac. This stream traverses a valley covered with majestic trees, which afford a cool shade during the hottest weather. Tobacco has long been the staple production, but the increasing cheapness of this article has induced many planters to abandon its cultivation for that of wheat. The best quality of tobacco of this tract is

sold at four, and the worst at two dollars per cwt. The price of the first was formerly sixteen, and the latter eight dollars. An acre of good soil yields a hogshead, which weighs about a thousand pounds; and the same surface will give from fifteen to twenty bushels of wheat, which, last year, was sold at a dollar and eighty-four cents per bushel. Slaves are numerous. It was observed to me, by the planters of this district, that tobacco is the only crop which gives them constant employment. The horse-road from Washington to Greenwood leads across the Annacostia river, or eastern branch of the Potomac, over which there is a drawbridge for the passage of vessels. On leaving this bridge, the road passes over the summit of an elevated hill, which commands a superb view of the Potomac river, with its eastern branch, and the rich scenery on either sidea scene worthy of the pencil of a Claude Lorrain. What a delicious spot for a summer's residence. The axe has made great havoc among the trees, but the young shoots, if protected, would soon form a fine shade. The road to Greenwood is extremely romantic, adorned with the flowering laurel, with

« 上一頁繼續 »